All posts tagged John Green

Good news for fans of YA literature giants John Green and David Levithan: Penguin has released the cover image for a new edition of their bestselling book “Will Grayson, Will Grayson,” to be published in March.

Five years ago, the book about two friends with the same name debuted at #3 on the New York Times children’s chapter book bestseller list. To celebrate the anniversary, the publisher is reissuing the novel in paperback with a fresh new cover that resembles a spiral-bound school notebook.

The book was co-written by Green, of “The Fault in Our Stars” fame, and Levithan, author of “Boy Meets Boy” and “Two Boys Kissing.”Read More »

“Nerdfighters, meet changemakers,” Bill Gatestweeted to his 16 million followers.

The tech pioneer and world philanthropist was joined by young adult author and YouTube star John Green on a recent trip to Ethiopia. In case you aren’t quite up to speed on essential terms from John Green’s world, “nerdfighters” is the name John Green fans use to describe themselves, and their stated mission is to “increase awesomeness.” Green and his brother also have a charity organization called the Foundation to Decrease Suck, so it makes sense that Green would team up with a fellow Good Samaritan like Bill Gates.

“Fault,” the much-anticipated adaptation of John Green’s bestselling book, grossed an estimated $48.2 million over the weekend, confirming expectations that the teen romance would draw the novel’s fans to the theater in droves. The weekend’s other new release, “Edge of Tomorrow,” collected a disappointing $29.1 million.

“Fault” features actors Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as two teenagers who fall in love after meeting in a cancer support group. (No surprise: it’s a tear-jerker.) Released in 2012, Mr. Green’s book has steadily grown into a phenomenon, in part thanks to a built-in audience he’s cultivated through quirky videos on Google Inc.’s YouTube. Read More »

If early box office results are any indication, “The Fault in Our Stars” is pushing “Edge of Tomorrow” off a cliff.

The teen romance “Fault,” based on a popular novel by John Green, grossed $8.2 million from screenings Thursday night. That’s similar to the Thursday night debuts of recent blockbusters like “Godzilla” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” that cost more than $150 million to make. “Fault” cost 20th Century Fox only about $12 million. Read More »

John Green has been so manically busy promoting the movie adaptation of his novel, “The Fault in Our Stars,” that you would never guess he was initially opposed to making it. He was certain at first that a Hollywood version of his story, about two teenagers with cancer who fall in love, would be maudlin.

“I thought there was no way anyone could make a Hollywood version of ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ period,” he said in an interview. “I didn’t want to be in a meeting discussing whether the girl in the movie is going to have an oxygen tube in her nose, and not have any control over that, or worse yet, not to be invited to that meeting.”

When his film agent asked to send the novel out to studios and producers, he said not to bother. “I said, the book is in stores, they’re welcome to buy it.” Read More »

“The Fault in Our Stars” is the kind of book that inspires readers to memorize favorite lines, like “Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.” Actor Ansel Elgort and author John Green stopped by the WSJ Cafe to share a little infinity with us and reveal some of the secrets behind the production of the film, the writing of the novel, and the inspiration behind star-crossed teen lovers Hazel and Augustus.

Ed Sheeran has 9.4 million Twitter followers and some of the most devoted fans in music, but even the star singer-songwriter was shocked by his introduction to the fandom surrounding John Green’s novel “The Fault In Our Stars.” Sheeran’s announcement last month that he’d written a song for the coming movie adaptation received 48,700 retweets, his most ever, he says.

Sheeran is set to feed that following Wednesday night when he performs his song live for the first time at a concert showcase for the movie’s soundtrack. The show is being live-streamed (starting at 9 p.m. eastern) from YouTube Space LA and will feature performances by other acts on the soundtrack, including Charli XCX, and appearances by such stars of the movie as Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort.Read More »

It’s always tricky to adapt a beloved book into a film. But it’s even tougher when the author has a fan base as passionate as John Green’s.

Mr. Green’s readers are more like religious devotees or apostles than fans (it’s fitting that Mr. Green, author of the best-selling young-adult novel, “The Fault in Our Stars,” once dabbled with the idea of becoming a priest). His followers have a name – “Nerdfighters” – a signature salute, and a catch phrase, “Don’t Forget to Be Awesome.”

With his quirky YouTube videos, which have been viewed 1.6 billion times, and his five novels, which have more than 13 million copies in print in North America, Mr. Green has emerged as a potent, one man entertainment brand. Fans have been turning out by the thousands and camping out on sidewalks for hours for a glimpse of their favorite author at a series of advance screenings of a film based on “The Fault in Our Stars” in New York, Miami, Cleveland, Dallas and Nashville. In Miami, a Q&A with Mr. Green and the stars of the film was cut short due to safety concerns when 5,000 fans crowded in to get closer to the stage. Read More »

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.